


The Lion's Pride 2

by KyokoUchiha



Series: Episode Tags - Fix-its [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode Tag, Fix-It, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, What-If, s07e13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 12:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15841194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyokoUchiha/pseuds/KyokoUchiha
Summary: WARNING: SEASON 7 SPOILER!!!--The fight is over, the battle against Sendak is won. The Paladins now have time to rest, but Lance feels himself confronted with feelings after nearly dying.There’s Allura, who seems to finally see him as more than a teammate, it’s what he has wished for since meeting her. But after Keith came back, somehow he managed to catch feelings for him.Before the battle he promised himself that he’d be brave and confront his leader, but what if Keith rejects him. What if it destroys the friendship, which took time to build?--What should have happened in s07e13





	The Lion's Pride 2

**Author's Note:**

> In celebration of my birthday ^__^
> 
> WARNING: SEASON 7 SPOILER!!!
> 
> If you haven’t watched the new season yet, I highly recommend you watch it first. It makes more sense that way. 
> 
> Soo, after watching the last three episodes I was in tears. Because I was glad that everyone was okay and that Allurance wasn’t addressed, that is pushed to the last season *sweats* That’s where I’ll really cry. 
> 
> But yeah, I. Am. Thirsty. For. KLANCE. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
> 
> So here it is, the Fix-It and simultaneously continuation of my previous story [Heart of the Lion](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15650394). Read it first otherwise this story won’t make that much sense. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
> 
> God, this took me way too long to finish -___-''  
> Again I took liberties with the dialogue and scenes, because I can (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧  
> This takes place some time after they wake up in the hospital wing, before they start to help with cleaning up the debris.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy (´∀｀)♡

_“Lance, left!”, Veronica shouts and Lance points his bayard towards the flying drones and shoots them before they can return fire._

_He won’t crumble, he won’t let them hurt his sister. He won’t let that happen. But he already knows that his assault rifle can’t handle the outer shell of the ship that is coming closer. He tries nonetheless. He has to._

_Then the ship closes in, only few feet away and Lance feels dread form in the pit of his stomach. Thoughts of fighting back fly out of his head as memories of his teammates flash through his mind, coming to rest on Keith’s face._

_Then there’s Red, coming to his rescue like she had done on so many occasions for Keith. He remembers him saying as much._

.

_“You lead the others to the lions, Lance.”_

_Lance turns around and takes a few steps after Keith, hand outstretched like he wants to grab him and hold him back. “Wait, where are you going?”_

_“I need to get Axca”, Keith replies, only half turning to him, like he hasn’t got a few more seconds to properly talk to him._

_Lance feels his chest tighten from seeing the look of annoyance cross Keith’s face, like he's bothering him with the question. He feels himself grimace. “Sure. I’ll get us to the lions.”_

_“See you later”, Keith says and seconds later he’s out of the room, leaving him with their team._

_Why does Lance feel like crying?_

.

_There is nothing in outer space, a vast darkness with millions of stars, but not a living soul except for them, the Paladins. They’re supposed to be a team, but currently they’re fighting. With Keith insulting Hunk and Lance protecting him and throwing words at Keith which he doesn’t mean. He doesn’t mean it when he yells he should have stayed away. That he doesn’t belong to the team. That Lance doesn’t give a damn about him._

_He does care. So much. But those words won’t come out of his mouth. And he sees Keith letting go of their hold on him and drifting away._

_And Lance. He can do nothing but watch him, heart shattering silently in his chest._

—

“ _Lance_ ”, the voice calling his name is familiar.

With a start he wakes, sitting up, grip tight around the bedsheets until he realizes where he is. Not on the battlefield, not in space, but in the hospital wing, _on earth_. He’s not fighting anymore. Still his mind is projecting the images of the nightmare. The battle, the pain, the fear of losing his teammates. Nearly dying while protecting Veronica. Speaking of...

He turns and meets the eyes of his big sister, whose brows are drawn in worry as she regards him. “Hey, sis”, he greets breathlessly as he slowly starts to relax. Seeing her rested and unharmed lifts a weight off his shoulders.

“Hey, little brother. How are you feeling?”

“Better, I guess. Still hurts”, he answers truthfully, as he brushes a hand over his right leg, which is wrapped up in bandages. He strained it too much and has to keep it low for a few days. Nothing he can’t handle. “How long was I out?”

“Three hours.” She takes a bottle from the nearby table and pours him a glass of water, which Lance accepts with a smile.

“Where are the others?”, he asks after drinking half of the content.

“They’re helping out with food or the injured. We still don’t have enough intact rooms to rest, so they try to find more supplies. Are hungry? I got an apple if you want. Dinner is still a few hours away. They promised to gather here for it.”

“Yeah, thanks”, he says and reaches for the apple in her hand, but she angles it out of his reach. “Let me.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “My hands aren’t injured.”

“Shush, just let me coddle you a little. It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for us.” She starts to cut the apple into slices and hands him the first one.

Lance accepts it. “Don’t exaggerate. You also fought well. Without the Atlas we wouldn’t have won”, he admits around a mouthful. 

“Yeah, but ultimately it was you Paladins who saved earth. And don’t talk with your mouth full”, she chides, shaking her hand which is holding the knife.

Lance swallows, “Yes ma’am.” They both start to giggle. Lance visibly relaxes further into the cushions, while he munches on the next slice. “I missed this.”

Veronica stops and looks up, regarding him with her blue-grey eyes. “We all missed you.”

Lance brushes a hand over his eyes. “I still can’t believe that we’re back home. It still feels like a dream.” He looks back from gazing at the ceiling. “Did you see the others?”

“If you mean if I have delivered your cards, yes I did. Hunk wanted to see you but I told him you were resting. Pidge was awake and mentioned something about you being a hypocrite of sorts as she saw your drawing on the card.”

“Hey, my drawings are pretty neat.”

“Don’t tell me”, she shrugs and offers another slice. “And Allura was sleeping, so I placed the card next to the vase with flowers for her to see it right when she wakes up.”

Lance nods, absentmindedly chewing on the fruit until he processes her last words and chokes on the last bit, coughing and smacking his fist against his chest. Veronica hurries to get him his glass and Lance takes small gulps to wash the bits of fruit down his throat.

“Jesus, you okay?”, she asks, breathing out a sigh of relief when the color starts to come back to his face.

Lance gives her a thumbs up and coughs a bit more before he leans back, brushing away the sweat from his face. “Quiznak. That nearly killed me.”

“Oh, don’t exaggerate”, she comments drily, still with a smile on her lips.

Lance wants to retort something but then he remembers what brought him into the situation in the first place. “What flowers?”, he asks instead, panic written on his face and Veronica raises her eyebrows in surprise at seeing him react like this.

“I just thought that it would be nice to give her some flowers with the card. She seems like a girl who’d appreciate them. I presume she hasn’t seen any earth flowers yet.” She stops as she witnesses the color draining yet again from his face and wonders if the medicine they gave himmaybe got to his head. “Was I wrong?”

Lance feels his legs start to jerk and winces when he moves his injured one too much. Damn. “No”, he starts and wrings the sheets between his fingers, “that was kind of you and normally that would be something I’d do for a girl...”

“ _But_ ”, she prods, already having a hunch what he’s about to confess just from seeing his troubled look and blushing cheeks. She just hopes that he won’t faint from all that stress.

“I guess, she’s not the one...”

“Is that why you haven’t given me a card for Keith?”

A few seconds pass before Lance is able to answer, looking sheepishly up to meet her gaze. “Yeah. I made one, but I wanted to give it to him in person.” That had been three hours ago; Keith is probably already out of his room and walking around. Lance has missed his chance. Which might be a good thing. Would spare him some humiliation.

“Don’t you dare back out, Lance!” Her words are accompanied by a slap to his arm, which does really hurt. Ouch! “He’s still in his room resting. Once you finish your apple, you’ll go over to him and give him the card.” She points with the knife towards the side of the bed. “I brought you crutches. As long as you don’t overdo yourself, you can walk around.”

Lance is still rubbing his throbbing arm as he eyes the crutches leaning against the wall next to his bed. “But the doctor said—“ He flinches back when he sees her move to slap him again. “Okay, okay! I’ll go to him. Yeesh. Shouldn’t you be kind to the injured?”, he mumbles the last part and glowers at little at her.

She hands him the last slice and throws the remnants into the trashcan. “I prepared you the apple. That is coddling enough.”

Lance huffs in false indignation and bites heartily into the last slice. “Sure.”

“So what’s there for dinner?”, he asks after some minutes have passed.

“Pasta, I presume”, Veronica begins to fiddle with the knife in her hands.

“You can go, you know. I don’t need a babysitter.”

She squints her eyes at him. “You promise to give him the card?”

Lance nods and offers his fist, pinky sticking out. “Pinky promise.”

Veronica rolls her eyes at that familiar act, reminded of their childhood moments, when she clasps her pinky with his. “I’ll check”, she warns after standing up. It gets her a huff but she still smiles on her way out. “See you at dinner”, she says over her shoulder as she pulls the door open, only to nearly collide with another woman standing just outside, fist raised as if about to knock.

“Oh, my apologies”, Allura says and takes a step back to make room for Veronica.

Veronica nods as greeting. “I was just about to go. He’s all yours”, she tells her and hears her little brother chocking in the background, probably from inhaling wrong. She carefully hides her grin from the princess’ eyes as she passes by her.

Allura lifts a curious eyebrow, not sure what she was implying, but when her eyes meet Lance’s figure sitting in the bed, his leg bandaged, all wondering comes to a halt. “Lance, you’re injured”, she says and shuts the door behind herself before moving closer towards the bed. “Do you mind?”, she remembers to ask, pointing to the chair where Veronica has previously been sitting. After Lance’s nod, she sits down and folds her hands together in her lap. “Is it severe?”

Lance gives her a smile, a little bit thrown off-guard with her unexpected visit. He hadn’t really had time to organize his feelings towards her. Like, not really romantic but also not entirely friendly? At least not like he feels towards Keith…

When she cocks her head to the side, brows drawing into a concerned frown, he remembers that she had asked him a question. “Just a strain. A few days of bedrest and I’m back in shape”, he answers with a grin. “At least now I have an excuse to sleep in.”

Allura smiles as she gives an eye-roll at his jab towards her and Keith’s insistence about getting up early to stay in shape. “Just this once.”

“What about you?”

“Just a few bruises. After another day of rest I will be fine.” She falls silent after that, a look of contemplation crossing over her face. Then out of the blue she wraps her hands around one of his. “Lance, I came here for—“

“Wait, Allura, let me speak first”, he interrupts her but isn’t able to continue because suddenly the door is pushed open and in barges... _Keith_.

Lance feels his stomach do a flip at seeing the one person he planed to visit later. He looks fine, apart from the bandages wrapped around his head—probably a mild concussion. If he’s able to walk around so soon.

Allura is still holding his hand when Keith stops in the doorframe and sees them; violet gaze switching from him to her, and also taking in their clasped hands. “Um”, he starts, but his eyes won’t leave their hands and Lance so desperately wants him to meet his eyes so that he can show him that he’s jumping to the wrong conclusions, but Keith is bad at taking hints so he does the absolute worst thing he could do in this situation. He turns around and with a, “Sorry for the intrusion”, he leaves again.

“Wait, Keith!” But the door is already closed and his shout is too late. Damn. He heaves out a sigh and attempts to brush a hand over his face but Allura is still holding his right hand and then he remembers that he’s not alone. When he meets her blue gaze he’s surprised by the amount of sadness he’s seeing in her expression. It pangs his heart to see her look like that. “Allura”, he murmurs and places his other hand on top of hers.

“It seems that I’m too late”, she says, successfully assessing the situation. “From the way you were acting towards me, I presumed that you... liked me, as more than a teammate.” She casts her eyes downwards as she musters their hands. “I was told that, on earth when a boy gives a girl flowers it means that he harbors romantic feelings towards her. It is a common custom. Did I misinterpret that?”

“The flowers were Veronica’s idea. I gave her cards for everyone and asked her to deliver them for me. She just wanted to do me a favor and brought you flowers.”

Her face falls further and she moves to pull away her hands, but Lance tightens his grip on them. “Wait. You were right. I _did_ like you in a romantic way.”

“Did”, she parrots. “You changed your mind.”

“Not like that. I did like you for a long time, but during the last few months I realized that the feelings towards you changed. I had enough time to think during our journey in the lions back to earth. And with Keith taking back his role as our leader…”

“You realized that you missed him.” She finishes his speech and Lance nods sadly. “Wow. I had always assumed that you were only interested in girls. We probably all did.”

Lance shrugs his shoulders in a sheepish manner. “You’re as much surprised as I was when I came to the realization.”

“Oh my. I bet Keith would have never anticipated to have so many admirers.”

Immediately Lance’s posture stiffens after hearing her words. Oh yeah, _Axca_. So Hunk wasn’t exaggerating. Allura seems to notice his sudden change of mood. “Oh, you didn’t notice. My apologies. I thought her intentions were rather apparent.” When she witnesses Lance’s expression falling further in seconds she hurries to add, “Though I believe that Keith is oblivious to her intentions. And to be frank, they’ve only spoken a few words to each other. I can’t believe that he could harbor any kind of romantic feelings towards her. Until some time ago she was our enemy.”

In the silence that follows she seems to register the meaning of her words and that she pretty much annihilated her words in the past. After all she did harbor romantic feelings towards Lotor. Their enemy.

“Quiznak”, she curses and startles a little from his sudden laugh. For a moment she’s stunned at seeing him react to her words like that, but then she joins in. Though she still feels a sting in her heart when she thinks back to that bastard, it also feels refreshing to just let go and laugh. Together with Lance. Who only ever had her best welfare in mind, no matter what he did.

Then she thinks back to how Keith had struggled with the role as their leader when Shiro had been gone. And how Lance was the one who encouraged and tried to help him be the leader they all needed. And how well they have worked together since then. How much better Keith fitted into the team and how Lance matured with the role as second-in-command. They both brought out the best in each other.

And with that she finally comes to the conclusion how wrong it would be for her to take Lance away from Keith. They belong together. And obviously Keith harbors some feelings of his own, judging by how sad he had looked when he had seen them together. She also hasn’t forgotten that Lance was the only one who Keith had talked to before their final battle.

“Sorry, Allura, I didn’t mean to make fun of your situation”, Lance’s apology pulls her out of her musings.

She gives him a smile and squeezes his hands to reassure him that she doesn’t think ill of him. “Don’t worry. It felt good to let go. I think after all the time I can finally focus on myself without the worry of the next battle. We still don’t know about the whereabouts of Haggar, but for the time being I think we can take a break. At least from fighting, we still need to help the others with the rebuilding. There will be much to do.” For a moment her tone has become serious but after taking a breath she switches back to casualness, withdrawing her hands and instead placing them on the corner of the bed to lean a little forward.

Lance raises a brow, a little taken aback by the sudden change of mood, not feeling comfortable with the expression she gives him. She seems _eager_.

“So, what’s the plan? How do we get Keith to express his feelings for you?”

Lance feels his cheeks flare, mouth falling open. “Wait, what? K-Keith, f-feelings... _for me_?” The incredulousness is plain to catch in his words. And face, he must look like an idiot.

“Obviously”, she states, expression full of assurance. “Haven’t you noticed how he looks at you?”

Lance scrunches his face in sorrow. “Um, like I get on his nerves? All we did was get into arguments. Have you forgotten that he chose me in the game show because he didn’t want to spend eternity _with_ me?! For me that sounds like he totally can’t stand me in his vicinity.” After the words have left his mouth he realizes that confessing his feelings for him might not be a good idea after all. If Keith really can’t be with him... it would be awkward for them in the future.

“Oh please”, Allura scoffs as she leans back and makes herself comfortable on the chair, legs crossed and hands propped on one knee. “That was the worst excuse he could think of. You know Keith, he never talks openly about his feelings. You have to read between the lines, Lance.”

The brunet snorts. “What is there to read?”

“Possibility one, he didn’t want you to stay because he couldn’t handle to see you suffering and being treated like an idiot for the rest of your lives. Possibility two, he knew that out of all of us you missed your family the most and wished to be back on earth.” At Lance’s baffled expression she lifts a challenging eyebrow, “need some more?”

Lance grimaces and shakes his head. “Don’t get me wrong, Allura, I wish that would be the reasons behind his words, but let’s be reasonable, Keith’s been an absolute jerk to me since returning with his mother from the Quantum Abyss. He’s done nothing than take me for granted and insult me.” His chest aches at the words, but he knows that these are the more truthful facts. He doesn’t mention that he felt neglected not only by Keith but by most of his teammates. Okay, Shiro doesn’t count but well, the pain runs deep.

“Lance”, at Allura’s prompt, he looks back into her eyes, “he has spent two years alone with his mother, maybe he needed time to warm up with the team again. Accepting leadership has always been a tough choice for him. And if I remember correctly you two worked in perfect unison on the field.”

The brunet rubs over the side of his upper arm. “Yeah. That’s probably the only time he treated me with respect”, he says in a wry tone. “You can’t assert from that alone that he harbors other feelings than hate and annoyance towards me.”

“Oh for the love of… Lance, Keith _doesn’t_ hate you! How can anyone hate you? Stop telling yourself that!” For emphasis she throws her hands onto the mattress which makes the whole bed rattle against the wall and Lance lets out a surprised shriek (which he will deny the second after) and tries to get a grip on the bed frame.

“Allura!”

“Quiznak!” When she grabs the frame the bed finally stops. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. Are you alright?”

Lance heaves out a sigh and brushes the sweat from his brows. Then he gives her a thumbs up. “Peachy.”

“Do you want some water?”, she proposes and reaches for the glass at his bedside table but Lance throws a hand out to stop her.

“Ah, no, I-Im not thirsty. Thanks.” Again he’s sweating from nervousness.

Allura pulls back and rests her hands back in her lap. “Okay.”

Silence falls once again upon them as both seem to dwell on their respective thoughts.

“Do you mourn him?”, Lance asks out of the blue which makes the princess raise her eyebrows in question. “Lotor.”

Her eyes go wide for a second before they steel over, a sharp icy blue taking over the fond glow. “Sometimes. When I’m alone memories of us together creep into my mind. My heart aches still from his betrayal and I will probably never be able to fully trust someone again.” When she looks at him her eyes grow back to fondness. “Well, except for you and the team. I trust you guys. You’re my family.”

Lance gives her a sincere smile. “Yeah, you’re my family too.” And just for the heck of it he opens his arms in invitation.

For a second she regards him, evaluates his possible intentions. What she can see in his expression, just open feelings of love and friendship, prompt her to following and moving to sit by his side and wrap her arms around him, burrowing her face against his neck as she feels his arms enclose her body.

It is a hug full with feelings of respect and love, shared between good friends. It makes Allura realize that loving Lance as more than a friend would be wrong. “You should talk to him”, she mumbles against his skin and feels him nod against her side.

“Yeah.”

.

Some time later after Allura is gone, Lance retrieves the card to pocket it before he grabs the crutches and attempts to stand up. It’s a little wobbly, and the first time he falls back and his ass nearly misses the mattress, but a few minutes later he manages to walk to the door.

Checking the hallway first to make sure that nobody sees his miserable performance of a walk, he slowly exits his room and makes his way over towards Keith’s. Allura has been kind enough and informed him about where everybody is staying.

Though Keith’s room is only at the end of the hall, it still takes Lance forever to get close. For a few times he has to lean against the wall to catch his breath, he’s more worn out than he anticipated. Luckily he comes across nobody, at least until he’s just a few feet away from Keith’s door, which is suddenly pulled open. He nearly gets a heart attack from the unexpected action.

Lance immediately freezes, heart hammering in his chest as he watches the figure coming out of the room, but when he recognizes Krolia, he lets out a shaky breath and slumps forward... which is not a good idea. In the last second he manages to keep his balance with throwing out a crutch to steady him. Face-planting in the presence of his crush’s mother—his big ass Galra mother—isn’t a move which Lance had planned to do to impress her.

“You alright, kid?”, the deep voice takes Lance by surprise and when he looks up he meets Kolivan, who’s looking with a mix of worry and confusion at him. He probably hasn’t seen crutches before.

“Oh, hey, ‘sup, Kolivan?Glad to see you back safe. Welcome to earth.” He greets cheerfully and makes his way over to him.

“Thanks.” His eyes drift towards his bandaged leg. “Is it a good idea for you to walk around?”

“Ah, yeah, just a minor injury. The doctor allowed me to take a walk.” Lance is so focused on the older man that he misses Cosmo appearing behind him to push himself up against him.

And Lance isn’t prepared for the sudden weight pushing into his side, therefore he ends up losing his balance for good and dips sideways, crutches clattering with a loud noise onto the floor. Lance tries to reach for the wall but misses it by sheer inches and mentally prepares himself for the collision with the hard floor, but luckily Kolivan is there to wrap his big arms around his middle and keep him upright. Lance’s face bumps into his hard chest, which he prefers miles over the floor. “Thanks”, his voice is muffled against said chest.

“Maybe you should go back to rest, kid”, Kolivan suggests as he helps Lance regain his balance.

A low whine catches both their attentions and Lance looks down to see Cosmo looking up at him, eyes huge and apologetic, ears deflated and holding one crutch between his jaw. Lance’s heart rate picks up at the cute display of this big space wolf. “Oh, look at that cutie”, he coos and leans forward to brush his hands into Cosmo’s fur to fondle. “I’m not mad at you.” He starts to giggle when he witnesses the wolf’s bushy tail start to wack happily against the floor from feeling his hands in his fur.

Kolivan is kind enough to keep his hold on him with one arm while he retrieves the crutch from Cosmo with the other. It’s halfway covered in saliva, therefore he presumes that it’s not safe for Lance to use at the moment. “Why don’t you let Cosmo teleport you back to your room?”, he suggests. The wolf perks up one ear at the mention of his name.

And Lance can already see him following orders, so he hastily pulls his hands back from the wolf. “No, wait, I...”, he starts but falls silent because he can’t just say that he wanted to visit Keith, can he? Won’t they get suspicious? But Cosmo is already pushing in again, seemingly intend to make up for is former mistake and Lance can’t get away from them. But when suddenly Kolivan steps back and the air around them changes, Lance looks down at the wolf and says, “To Keith.”

The wolf seems to understand because when Lance blinks away the haze he finds himself in a room, on a bed. He nearly gets a heart attack from the surprised shout that follows their sudden appearance, and when he turns to look for the source of the voice he comes face to face with Keith!

“Oh Quiznak”, he screams and pushes himself away in need for more distance but his leg prevents him and he winces from the sudden pain.

“Lance!”, Keith calls but his warning comes too late because Lance feels his body already tipping over the edge of the mattress. Before his immediate collision he feels a hand wrap around his wrist, sees Keith’s face come into view, coming closer as he falls forward into him and both descend towards the ground. Lance cries out in pain when he feels a sudden weight against his injured leg. A muffled curse vibrates against his chest before he feels another dip in the air and suddenly he’s lying on the floor, with a heavy weight nearly crushing his lungs and with his face full of fur.

Needless to say that whole ordeal happened in a mater of seconds.

“What just happened?”, he asks, after pushing the furry body out of his face. Thankfully the wolf budges and rolls off of him.

“Shouldn’t _I_ be the one asking that”, comes Keith’s reply, tone dripping with sarcasm and looking really pissed as he pushes himself up from lying on Lance’s chest and gazes down at the brunet. “Why are you with Cosmo?”

Lance feels his cheeks flush and he nervously averts his eyes, watching the wolf settle down on his belly and watching them in turn, yellow eyes inquiring. Gosh is he cute. “I was taking a walk outside...”

“And?”

“Kolivan insisted Cosmo should bring me back to my room after he accidentally knocked me over. Almost.”

“And why did you two end up _here_ then?”

“Um”, Lance falters, having no clue what to answer to appease Keith’s annoyed mood.

Suddenly fingers take his chin and angle it back to meet Keith’s eyes. “Lance!”

“I wanted to see you”, he finally blurts out and feels his head combust. He feels like overheating from looking Keith up this close.

The raven blinks in surprise at his answer, probably having not anticipated such a reasoning. It’s then that Keith finally seems to realize that he’s actually halfway sitting on Lance, so he hastily gets up and Lance lets out a whine when Keith accidentally brushes up against his injured leg. Quiznak.

“Damn, sorry”, he apologizes. “You need help to get up?”

“Unfortunately”, Lance sighs and lets himself be pulled up into a sitting position. He blinks in surprise as Keith rather easily picks him up and situates him on the edge of his bed. Uh. “How did you?”, he asks and eyes the other boy’s chest, where the thin shirt spans and does nothing to hide his bulging biceps. What the heck. He had never paid that close attention to how much Keith’s body shape had changed after returning to the team.

“Cosmo nearly weights as much as you do and when I can lift him...”, Keith explains casually, kneeling next to the wolf and brushing a hand into his fur. The wolf immediately lolls his tongue out and makes a pleased noise.

Lance cocks his head to the side, eyes thinning into slits. “So what, you’re telling me I’m fat?” Excuse him, but Lance does weight more than before because of gaining muscle mass. But Keith wouldn’t know because he doesn’t so much as take a glance at him. It’s always _Shiro_ he looks at.

“What? No, I didn’t say that”, Keith denies irritated.

“But you insinuated it.”

Keith raises an arm and gestures with the hand towards Lance’s body. “How can you even think that? There’s _not_ an ounce of fat on you. It’s just bones and skin... and some muscles”, he mumbles the last part more to himself but Lance hears it nonetheless.

“So you did look...”, he spills and clamps his hand over his mouth the second after. Damn. Mouth was faster than brain.

Keith raises and eyebrow in suspicion. “Am I not allowed to? We do use the communal showers quite often. Or did, back then when the castle still existed.”

Lance feels his cheeks heat up. “A-are you telling me that you _watched_ me shower?”

The raven blinks, hand stilling in the fur as he watches the other getting more red in the face as he moves his arms to wrap them around himself, like he wants to hide himself from his eyes. When the words register, he himself feels his cheeks flush. “Are you nuts! I’m not a creep! I only meant that we see each other half naked before and after taking a shower. With towels covering our lower halves! You talk all the time, how can we not look at you!”

The brunet averts his eyes sheepishly, gnawing at his bottom lip. “I guess that makes sense...” Still the thought about Keith watching him while he was standing under the water spray makes his body tingle. It’s not like he’d be opposed to that if it was true. At least that would mean that Keith is interested in him.

“So why did you want to see me?”, Keith asks as he continues to cradle Cosmo.

Lance’s eyes focus on the movements of Keith’s hand in the fur, wondering how it would feel if he did that to him. Have this nimble fingers brush through his short hair, dig into his skin and leave marks behind. A shiver runs over his spine at that image. Jesus, why is he thinking about that right now? “To talk”, he finally says, fiddling with his hands in his lap. His uninjured leg is starting to jerk from nervousness. He just has to get the card from the pocket of his pants and give it to him.

“You don’t have to say anything. I already know what you want to say.”

At that Lance whips his head up to meet his gaze, eyes wide in surprise and heart beat accelerating in his chest. “Y-you know?”, Lance internally curses at himself for stuttering. Why the heck can’t he act as chill as Keith?

“Congratulations are in order”, Keith says, tone devoid of any happiness. He sounds rather bitter. When he gets only a raised eyebrow and the look of confusion on Lance’s face as a reaction, he adds, “for finally getting what you deserved.”

Even more confusion on Lance’s part. Then he seems to get an idea—the wrong one—because his eyes trail downward and rest on his bandaged leg. Keith is not surprised by the hurt look he receives.

“Not _that_ , Lance”, Keith cuts him off from saying anything, already exasperated that he apparently has to spell it out to him. That idiot. “I meant for Allura confessing to you. Isn’t that what you wanted all this time?”

“Well about that”, Lance shrugs his shoulders, looking sheepish. “A few months earlier I probably would have felt happy about her confession...”

“You gotta be kidding! Are you telling me that you _don’t_ reciprocate her feelings? _You?!_ ” Keith is more than a little surprised judging by the look on his face. “You have been following her like a lovesick puppy since we met her. I can’t even list how many times I’ve heard you use a cringy pick-up line on her. And now you wanna tell me that you _don’t_ want her as your girlfriend?!”

The brunet shakes his head as a _no_ , because at the moment he’s a little scared to say more because of Keith’s reaction. Why is he this bothered?

“Then why did you give her a card and flowers?” At that question Lance lifts his eyebrows. “Before I went to your room I visited the others. First Allura, then Pidge, then Hunk.”

“Oh.” So Keith just wanted to give an obligatory visit as their team leader. Maybe giving him the card is a bad idea. “ I made cards for everyone, but the flowers are from Veronica.”

“Everyone but me”, Keith mentions as he stands and moves to sit on the windowsill.

“I requested Veronica to deliver them. I made one for you too but I didn’t want her to snoop.” From his pocket he finally pulls out the folded card. “That’s why I’m here. I wanted to personally give it to you.”

Lance intends to stand up but then he belatedly remembers that he hasn’t got his crutches with him so he instead holds the card out for Keith to take. Which the raven does after a few seconds of contemplating. But right before he touches it, Lance pulls it back. “But you have to wait until I’m gone again before reading it, okay?” Keith looks at him and nods. “I still need my crutches. Could you maybe check if Kolivan put them outside your door?”

“Sure.” After taking the card and pocketing it Keith walks towards the door to open it and check the hallway. When he comes back he has the crutches in his hands.

“Thanks”, Lance smiles up at him as he accepts them. This time he luckily doesn’t fall back on his ass when he stands up from the bed.

“Cosmo will teleport you”, Keith offers as he watches the other boy with concern shining in his eyes as he notices how wobbly his walk is.

“No, I’ll manage. Need the practice, but thanks, man.” Lance declines the offer and is halfway through the room, when he feels the presence by his side. Cosmo is walking beside him, this time wary of touching, but his yellow gaze is fixed on him. Lance throws a look back over his shoulder.

Keith has sat down on his bed again. “Just a precaution.”

The brunet sighs in defeat. “Fine. But he’s gonna stay with me for the next hour.”

“Sure.”

After arriving at the door Lance takes a last look over his shoulder and nearly loses his balance when he sees Keith _reading_ the card. _What the!_ He hastily reaches for the doorknob and attempts to pull the door open.

“Wait, Lance!” Keith’s yell is followed by a curse as the raven had jumped from the bed, gotten stuck with the foot in the sheets and nearly toppled over, before he crashed into the door right next to Lance and ultimately pushes it close again with this action. Lance winces after hearing the thud—from the collision of Keith’s head with the hard surface.

“Damn, mullet, are you alright?”, he asks as he worriedly eyes the bandages around Keith’s head.

“Yeah, s’nothing”, Keith deflects, face scrunched up while he rubs at the pounding side of his head.

Lance musters him. “Yeah, I’m not buying that.” He takes a step forward, invading Keith’s personal space, lifts his bandaged leg a few inches from the floor and places the crutches against the wall besides him. Then he takes Keith’s free hand and guides it towards his waist. “Hold on”, he instructs, feeling his cheeks flush when Keith complies wordlessly. Then he slaps Keith’s other hand away from his head. “Let me.” He lifts his own hands towards his head, angling it from side to side and brushing a hand through the thick locks in search for any blood on the bandages or open wounds. It’s a little tricky with him balancing on one leg but Keith is quick to also wrap his other hand around his waist, so Lance doesn’t have to worry anymore about toppling over. “Are you in any shape to walk around?”

Keith doesn’t meet his eyes directly as he answers, his tone defensive and the expression resembling that of a child which is scolded unfairly. “As the leader I have to make sure that my team is doing fine.”

“That is not the answer to my question”, Lance retorts, surprising the other boy when he grabs hold of his cheeks and moves his head to look forward, right into his searching blue eyes. “Did the doctor explicitly allow you to leave the bed. Yes or no.” God, it’s like talking to his niece and nephew.

Albeit facing forward the raven still manages to avert his eyes, looking towards the ground, which is answer enough.

“Keith!” Lance barks and punches his chest. “Bedrest is important. Especially for head injuries. What if you suddenly faint and nobody’s present to catch you? You could end up in a coma!”

“Don’t be such a drama queen, it’s just a minor concussion”, Keith snaps, the guiltiness replaced by annoyance. His defensive walls are back up and Lance is reminded of the moment in outer space where they had nearly lost each other. He doesn’t want that to happen again.

“For once just do what you’re told to do. We have just a few days to rest before we need to help the others with rebuilding. We can’t do that properly with a bedridden leader. As your right-hand man it’s my duty to look out for you.” With that said he loosens his grip and reaches for the crutches but is stopped when he feels the hands squeeze his hips firmer.

“Lance.” The sudden change of tone in his voice has Lance stop breathing normally. Slowly he turns to look and when he sees the open look of uncertainty marring Keith’s usual stoic features, he feels his heartbeat accelerate. “Why am I important to you? Out of obligation?”

Lance slowly shakes his head. “No. Friendship is _not_ an obligation.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?”

Lance contemplates to say _yes_ , but that isn’t what he truly wants them to be. He wants Keith as more than a friend. So he chooses to close his eyes and take a calming breath. “You read the card.”

“Yes.”

Lance lets his eyes stay closed, too scared of the possibility to face the refusal on Keith’s face. “What is your answer?”

A few seconds of silence pass before he hears Keith’s voice again. “It isn’t a joke.” It should be voiced as a question but Lance gets the feeling that the words are spoken as confirmation for Keith that Lance wasn’t making fun of him with that card.

“I’ve never been more serious”, he answers nonetheless. When he gets nothing as a retort he takes a peek and freezes.

Keith is looking right back at him; violet eyes opened wide, lips forming a small o. If Lance doesn’t know any better he’d say that Keith is seeing him with different eyes for the first time. Is it really that inconceivable that he’d develop feelings for his former self-proclaimed rival? Keith should’ve known that nothing is impossible. Especially involving love. “I always thought…” He finally seems to remember how to form words, even if the sentence consisted of just three.

“That I only like girls? Yeah, before I met you I’ve never felt attracted towards guys. Though I guess there was a time when I had a weakness for Shiro. But that was just a small crush of a fanboy. He was my hero after all, or still is. But more like a friend…” Lance scratches his cheek in thought. “Anyhow what I meant to say is that you’re my first male lo—” He hastily clamps his mouth shut. What he intended to say was ‘love-interest’ but judging by the still wary expression that would be too much too soon.

“Your first?”, Keith repeats.

“Ah, quiznak, I just forgot what I meant to say. Seems like I’m still exhausted from the battle. I should really go back to my room and lie down.” He just really hopes that Keith gets the meaning and won’t pressure him into answering.

And it seems like for once Keith is able to let go of an issue because he lets out a sigh and lets go of his hips. Luckily Lance manages to lean against the wall besides him in time. “You’re right. You should go back. You need rest.” Lance harrumphs. Keith gives an eye-roll in mock annoyance. “Fine, we both need rest.”

Lance offers a proud smile which Keith returns with one of his own, which have been very rare these past days. “You should do that more often. Smiling I mean”, Lance blurts out, mouth once again faster than brain.

It earns him a fond huff from the raven. “Maybe there will be more occasions in the future”, he retorts mystically. Lance cocks his head to the side in curiosity. But the ravens just overlooks it as he fumbles in the pocket and pulls out the card. “Before you leave.”

Lance’s eyes widen as he watches transfixed how Keith lifts a thumb towards his mouth and cuts the pad with the tip of his canine, creating a thin line from which the blood starts to well. He opens his mouth in shock but Keith just offers a reassuring smile as he holds the card open with his other hand and pushes his bleeding thumb against the paper in a circling motion. When he’s finished he offers the card to Lance.

With hesitancy he leaves one arm against the wall and takes the card with the other hand, pushingit open with his thumb and skimming over the lines he wrote this morning.

| Do you want to go on a date with me? YES // NO |

He stares in wonderment at the letters which are surrounded by a red curl. | YES |

Before either of them is able to voice something, the door is suddenly pushed open, and unfortunately Keith was still standing before it, therefore the boy is knocked over by the door and Lance—he just wanted to help—reaches out for him, forgetting that he can’t stand on one leg, and crashes down together with Keith onto the floor. This time he’s the one ending up on top.

“Ah, fuck”, Keith curses, as he rubs his throbbing head. Maybe he really should just have stayed in bed.

“Keith, you okay, man?” Lance asks, already trying to push himself off the other and failing because his leg decides to start hurting like a bitch at that exact moment. With a muffled curse he falls back on the boy under him, who lets out an ‘ouf’ at the sudden return of weight on him. 

“Damn, you’re heavy.”

“Shut up, you just told me before that I’m a fly weight”, Lance snaps, glaring down with his chin propped onto his chest.

“I said I can _lift_ you. My strength lies in my _arms_ , Lance”, Keith grumbles back.

“Is this some kind of courting ritual for earthlings?”

The sudden appearance of another familiar voice has both boys snap their attention towards the person responsible for their current situation. The hand wrapped around the doorknob belongs to Krolia, but it was Kolivan who voiced the question. Which earned him a glowering look from the female Galran.

Lance brushes a hand over his burning face. “Like mother like son. Haven’t you both heard about the term of knocking?” When he sees Keith open his mouth, he hastily clamps his hand over his lips. “That was sarcasm, mullet.” He’s not surprised by the withering glare he receives for that.

“I presume you need help to get up?”, Krolia finally speaks.

“That would be much appreciated”, Lance answers and lets out a surprised noise (not a girly shriek) when he’s lifted off of Keith and put on his feet. The hands steadying him are big but also careful and warm. Craning his neck, he meets the eyes of Krolia, who has a fond expression on her face. _She looks like Keith_ , he thinks and feels himself blush at that thought. “T-thanks.”

“You’re welcome. It was my fault in the first place”, she answers and takes the crutches offered by Kolivan and helps Lance take them. “You’re quite light, you should eat more.” She says as an afterthought before she turns her attention back on her son, who has sat up and is currently trying to escape from Cosmo’s insistent licking. Where was the wolf when they were falling down?

Lance can’t help but snicker at seeing Keith fail to tell his wolf to back down. “If this wouldn’t be so hilarious to watch, I would feel hurt that Cosmo isn’t showering me with love.”

The moment after the words have left his mouth Lance regrets voicing them, because the cunning smirk Keith is throwing him is sufficient enough as a warning. He and his loose tongue. “Ah, look how late it has gotten. I really should head back to my room. It was nice seeing you two again”, he nods at the two Galra who nod in return, amusement clearly written in their faces—at least on Krolia’s. Out of the corner of his eye he notices Keith talking to Cosmo in a low whisper. Which is his cue to get the hell out of here.

To his utter dismay—or delight on Keith’s part—he doesn’t get far before Cosmo moves into action. “Cosmo, attack!” And Lance watches in horror how the wolf runs towards him.

The last moment they witness is how Cosmo pounces on the brunet before the air around them sparkles and both human and wolf are gone.

Both Galra throw Keith a curious look but he just smirks and moves to stand up.

Thanks to the door still being open they’re able to hear the muffled shriek and a, “Eww, _not there_ , Cosmo!”, coming from Lance from the other end of the hallway.

Keith is still snickering to himself when he sits down onto his bed.

“I presume it went well?” Krolia sits down on the nearby chair and hands her son a bowl with cut fruit.

Before Keith is able to answer Kolivan moves towards the other side. “So it was part of a courting ritual after all?”

Keith feels his cheeks flush from meeting his mother’s glinting eyes and shit eating grin. He scoops up a spoonful of fruit and stuffs it into his mouth. “I guess you were right”, he mumbles.

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder what Cosmo is doing to our poor boy… showering him with love probably (●♡∀♡))ヾ☆*。  
> Thanks for reading ♡


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